Unexpected Meetings
by celeste9
Summary: Danny comes back. Lester/Becker


_****_A/N: This is the next installment of my Lester/Becker series, though there's more Becker + Danny than actual Lester/Becker.

_**Unexpected Meetings**_

"An anomaly in a church just doesn't seem right," Connor said as he shut the door of the SUV. "Just think about it, some little old lady praying and then a raptor attacks her. It's not right."

"But it's okay if some little old lady in a shop checking the tins of beans gets attacked by a raptor?" Abby asked.

"Oh, you know what I meant."

Becker glanced sideways at Matt and they rolled their eyes at each other. Becker was more concerned about said little old ladies getting in the way when he tried to shoot the hypothetical raptor.

The vicar met them outside the doors, an elderly man with alert, intelligent eyes. "You're from the ARC?"

"That's right," Matt told him. "You've seen the anomaly?"

"Yes, it's in the basement. I've cleared the building; I thought that would be best."

"You did well, thank you. Please stay out here while we check inside." Matt looked at Becker and Becker nodded, signalling to two of his men to watch the vicar. It was always refreshing when people used their brains, made his job a whole lot easier.

Becker went first, sighting down his EMD and moving efficiently. The building was quiet, the only noise coming from their booted footsteps, and Becker wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. He reached the bottom of the stairs and went around the corner, avoiding a pile of boxes and seeing the flickering lights of the anomaly ahead of him.

"It's clear," said an all-too familiar voice.

Becker turned, EMD at the ready even though he would recognise that voice anywhere. He watched the lanky form move out of the shadows. "Danny?"

"Miss me, soldier boy?" Danny smiled wearily, filthy and battered but very much alive.

"Danny!" Abby said and ran forward, engulfing him in a hug. "Oh, Danny, we were so worried."

"You should know better than to worry about me," Danny said, squeezing Abby's small frame to himself and then accepting a hug from Connor as well.

"We missed you, mate," Connor said, smiling widely.

"Danny Quinn?" Jess said into Becker's comm.

"Yes," Becker said, incredulity, relief, and happiness all vying for attention. "Tell Lester Danny's back."

Danny stepped back from Connor and Abby, his expression a mixture of tiredness, relief, and something else, something hard and deeply-set. He held his arms out. "Come on, Becker, surely you can spare a moment for an old friend."

"You just want an excuse to get your hands on me," Becker said, but he moved forward for a hug anyway. "It's good to see you." Pulling back, he asked, "What about Ethan? I mean, Patrick? Did you find him?"

"He's dead," Danny said, voice tight with emotion.

"I'm sorry." Danny's obvious grief made Becker wish that he meant it. It was hard to regret the death of someone who had kidnapped one of your friends, nearly got you blown up, and then shot you. Twice.

"Yeah." Danny looked away from him to where Matt and Emily were hovering in the background. "Matt, right?"

"That's right," Matt said, shaking Danny's hand.

"And Emily, of course." Danny mustered a big smile for her and it almost appeared genuine. "We've got to stop meeting like this; I'm sure you'll be more impressed with me after I've had a wash and a change of clothes."

Emily's mouth twitched and her gaze slid sideways to Matt before fixing on Danny again. "I'm sure."

While Connor set about locking the anomaly, Becker drew Danny off to the side and asked, "You'll come back to the ARC with us?"

He shrugged. "Might as well. Wouldn't do to deprive Lester of my company."

"He'll be thrilled," Becker said, but the fact was, he would be. Not that he'd admit it. "Just so you know, you haven't got a chance with Emily. She's with Matt."

There was the familiar rakish, confident grin. "For now, at least."

Becker smiled back. He'd missed Danny.

* * *

Danny was shut up with Lester for an hour. Becker may have purposely come up with an entirely flimsy excuse to stay by Jess at her station, where he could be sure to see exactly when Danny came out of Lester's office. Jess was kind enough not to call him on it but Becker reckoned she was grateful for the company.

When Danny stepped through the door, Becker said, "Do you mind if I..."

Jess smiled at him. "Go on, go and see your friend. I've got actual work to do anyway."

So Becker moved swiftly across the floor, taking the steps in a leap. "Danny!"

"Becker," Danny said, eyes raking over the ARC with a somewhat lost expression. "You know, it's probably good I ran into you, this place is enormous. I haven't the slightest idea how to get anywhere."

"I can give you a tour later, if you want," Becker offered, following Danny to where he collapsed in an armchair. He sank down into the chair beside Danny.

"Starting with the showers?"

"I wasn't going to mention it."

"It's all over your face, mate, but I appreciate your restraint."

Becker nodded in the direction of Lester's office. "How did it go in there?" He wished Danny would tell him what had happened, unable to suppress a twinge of jealousy at the idea that Danny had told Lester everything and yet said almost nothing to Becker, but he didn't want to ask directly.

"All right. He's mellowed a bit, hasn't he?"

"Lester? Maybe. I know he's glad you're okay."

"I got that. It's weird, thinking he actually cares."

"He always cared," Becker said immediately, wondering exactly when defending Lester had become so reflexive. "Did he ask you to stay?"

"He said I'd be welcome to. I'm just not sure if I want to." That strange something was in Danny's face again, a bit like resignation and regret and sorrow.

Becker picked at his fingernails, wishing that he was better at this sort of thing. "We'd be glad to have you but I… I'd understand if you want to get away from all of this."

The ghost of a smile flickered across Danny's face. "Aw, Becker, you really do care about me. How touching."

"Git," Becker replied, fighting his own urge to smile. God, it was good to see Danny again.

Danny leaned back in the chair, stretching his legs out to their full length. "All right, let's have it. Who is she?"

"Who's who?"

"Your girlfriend. Anyone I know?"

"Girlfriend?"

"Come on, I've been stuck in the past long enough to start naming sticks. You owe me details."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I really don't have a girlfriend." It wasn't even a lie, not technically. Becker didn't know exactly why he felt so uncomfortable thinking about admitting to Danny that he was seeing Lester. He thought maybe it was only because Danny reminded him of the person he used to be and it was like… Well, sort of like getting together with old friends, friends from when you were younger. It was like being with Danny made Becker want to pretend he was still that person, made him feel self-conscious for not being that person any longer. He was almost embarrassed to imagine what Danny would think of him, even if he knew that was silly.

"You definitely have someone. You've got that 'I'm regularly having fantastic sex' look. Boyfriend, then?"

Danny had always been too quick for his own good. It was still annoying. "It's possible I may have some sort of arrangement, yes."

"Well, that explains the hair. Not to mention why you never shagged Sarah. Speaking of Sarah, where is she?"

Becker froze in place at the mention of Sarah. Shit, Danny still didn't know. He'd been back so briefly and they had all been distracted with Ethan. "Dead," Becker managed to get out, unable to look up from his hands. "She died trying to find you. I let her- That was our last mission, the ARC got shut down shortly after we lost her."

Danny's eyes had gone wide. "Becker, I'm sorry. I had no idea. I wouldn't have-"

"It's okay. You didn't know."

"I'm sorry, Becks," Danny repeated, his hand squeezing Becker's shoulder. "I'm sorry for everything."

"It's not you who should be apologising," Becker muttered. To cut the tension, he said, "Anyway, I didn't shag Sarah because it would have been inappropriate."

That startled a laugh out of Danny. "Right, I'd forgotten what a model of decorum you are."

"Someone has to be around here," Becker said primly. Fortunately Danny had no way of knowing what Becker had let Lester do to him last night.

As if on cue, Lester stuck his head out of his office door. "Becker, stop gossiping like an old woman and do the job I'm paying you for. I expect to have your report by the end of the day."

"Don't worry, sir, you'll have it. Have I ever let you down?"

"I don't believe you want the answer to that question."

"On the contrary, I always love to hear your opinion."

"Just get that report to me. By the end of the day, I mean it." Lester shut the door with what was no doubt a perfectly calculated amount of force so that it was not quite a slam. A slam would have been entirely too undignified.

Becker shifted a bit in the chair, as he always did have an inappropriate fondness for Lester's forcefulness. "What was that you were saying about Lester having mellowed?"

Danny was staring in a way that made Becker feel distinctly uneasy. "Oh my God. It's Lester."

"Sorry, Lester's what?"

"Your boyfriend! Christ, you and Lester are shagging? Wasn't it a theory of Cutter's that the timeline changed? Maybe I buggered it up again."

"I think that's giving yourself far too much credit."

"Yeah, probably. And I suppose in the grand scheme of things, who gets into your trousers isn't terribly important. Lester, though. He doesn't seem your type."

"What can I say? The braces are a real turn-on," Becker said dryly.

Danny stared at him in horrified silence before his face split into a grin. Damn, Becker had missed that - and he would never, ever admit it. "You know you've got to tell me how in the hell that happened."

It would have been easy to make a joke out of it, but somehow Becker was saying, "You were gone, all of you, and it was just me and him. It was... rough."

"I get it," Danny said, nodding sagely. "Two mismatched people seeking mutual comfort in a time of crisis-"

"Oh, shut up," Becker said, rolling his eyes. Trust Danny to turn it into a joke anyway.

Danny ruffled his hair with his hand. "God, it's weird, though. You and Lester. Can't say I ever would have seen that coming."

"Me neither," Becker replied and that was the honest truth.

"So, is he less of a bastard to you? Because you're shagging?"

"Not really. Not at work, anyway. Sometimes he's worse."

"I hope the sex is worth it," Danny said, that big grin returning, before he held up a hand. "Not that I want to know. You're free to keep those details to yourself. But, damn, you've been together all this time? Since before I came back the first time?"

"We have." Christ, it was a long time now. Becker and Lester weren't much for anniversaries but he had the sudden urge to figure out exactly how long it had been. Of course, the problem would be deciding what to count as the beginning. First time they'd shagged? The day Becker gave up shagging anyone else? First time they'd admitted to those damned three little words? It was a real dilemma.

Danny shook his head. "Bloody hell. I never thought I'd see you go domestic."

"I'm not domestic," Becker mumbled. Why did people keep saying that? He could have a boyfriend and spend time with his boyfriend's kids and whatever else, it didn't make him _domestic._ It didn't. This was why he hadn't wanted to say anything, he'd known Danny would get the wrong idea.

Domestic. Sod that.

"Course you aren't," Danny agreed, amiably enough but obviously lying through his teeth. "But, uh, I seem to recall you saying something about shagging Sarah being inappropriate?"

Becker gave him the finger.

"You know, maybe I had better come back," Danny said thoughtfully. "Look at the state you're in without me- the management screwing the help? Disgraceful. Imagine what Christine Johnson could have done with that."

"Oh, yes, you were such a calming, restraining influence on us all."

"Too right I was. This Matt bloke, clearly he could learn a lot from me."

Becker pictured Danny giving Matt lessons in how to run the team and barely stopped himself from bursting into laughter. "You do know that if you actually tried to stop me seeing Lester I'd have to kill you, right?"

"Honestly, I'd be more afraid of what Lester would do to me."

"Smart man," Becker said, clapping Danny on the shoulder as he stood up. "Come on, I'll show you the locker room."

"Hey," Danny said, long legs keeping an easy pace with Becker. "I know I said not to give me details, but you know my curiosity's a killer. I've gotta ask, is Lester a kinky old bugger? It's always the quiet ones, isn't it?"

"Piss off, Quinn," Becker said, but there was no suppressing his grin. It was good to have Danny back.

_**End**_


End file.
